Bottle-handling device.



T. F. LAMB.

BOTTLE HANDLING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 16, 1913.

LQEQE'SQQ Patented Dec. 9, 1913.

4 s SHEETSSHEET 1.

T. F. LAMB.

BOTTLE HANDLING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 16, 1913.

1,080,984., Patented Dec. 9, 1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNETED TATES PATENT @FFTCE. THOMAS F. LAMB, OF NEWARK, OFETAQSIGNOR TO THE AMERICAN BOTTLE GO MPAN Y, 0F NEWARK, OHIO, A. CORPORATION OF OHIO.

BOTTLE -HKNDEING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 9, 1913.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS F. LAMB, a citizenof the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Licking and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bottle-Handling Devices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an apparatus designed for use as an adjunct to a bottleblowing or rnolding machine, and the main object of the invention is to fprovide a simple and convenient apparatus or receiving the freshly made bottles in succession from the blowing or molding machine and arranging them in convenient and compact order to be transferred by the usual workmans paddle to the annealing oven or leer.

In anapplication filed by me on the 7th day of March, 1913, Serial No. 752,599, I have disclosed and claimed a machine of the same general character as that forming the subject matter of this application, but designed and adapted for the handling of round bottles.

My present machine is designed for use in connection with machines making bottles having a square or otherrectangular shape in cross-section, and, while embodying the broad operative principle of the machine of m said former application, my present mach1i1e also embodies several novel and useful structural features which specially adapt it for use in connection with the manufacture of bottles and like articles of rectangular shape.

The stated object of the invention, there fore, applies mainly to an apparatus adapted for the handling of freshly made bottles of substantially the form specified.-

My invention, its mode of operation, and the advantages secured thereby will all be readily understood when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings which illustrate the preferred embodiment of the invention, and inwhich- Figure 1 is a perspective elevation of the complete machine. Fig. 2 is a side elevation. Fig. 3 is a top plan View of the bottle-receiving table or platform and its ad unctive devices. Fig. 4'is an edge elevation of the table'or platform showing in part the pusher actuating mechanism on the under side of the table.

Ref erring to the drawings, 5 designates as a an entirety the base-plate on which the mechanism is supported, said base-plate in' turn being preferably mounted on fore and aft trucks 6 and 7, respectively, for convenient portability and adjustment rela tlvely to the machine which it serves. Mounted on legs 8 on the forward portion of the base-plate is a horizontal table or platform 9 on which the bottles are received, arranged in successive order, and partially cooled just prior to their transfer to" the leer. As best shown in Fig. 2, there is formed on the upper surface of the table 9 ashallow rectangular endless way or channel comprising parallel longitudinal sections 10, and shorter parallel cross sections 11 that extend cross-wise of the ends of the table, the longitudinal and transverse channel sections merging into each other- Betweenthe longitudinal sections 10 of the channel way is interposed a partition-plate 12. Slidably mounted Within this channel is a series of bottle-seats or carriers comprising substantially square thin blocks or plates 13', the corners of which are preferably sli htly chamfered, as shown at 13*, to facilitate their travel through the channel. These bottle-seats are arranged in edge-to-edge juxtaposition throughout the full exteht'of' the channel with the exception of a space slightly exceeding the combined width of two seats to accommodate the operation of the pusher devices by which an intermediate or step-by-step travel of the bottle-seats through the channel is maintained in the operation of the apparatus.

Slidably mounted in guide-ways 14 formed beneath'the longitudinal sides of the table 9 are a pair of alternately acting longitudinal pushers each comprising a slide 15, a spacing-block 16 on its outer end, and

a pusher-plate 17 adjustably secured to said spacing-block as by a bolt-and-slot connection 18. Similarly mounted in guideways 19 formed transversely of and beneath the ends of the table are a pair of; alternately acting cross-pushers each comprising a slide 20, a spacing-block 21 on its outer end, and a pusher-plate 22 adjustably secured to'said spacing-block as by a bolt-andslot connection 23.

Journaled in and between the base-plate 5 and table 9 is a vertical rock shaft 24, fast on the upper portion of which is a crankdisk-25. Pivoted to the upper side of the crank-disk 25,- at diametrically opposite points thereon, are a pair of links 26 that are pivoted at their opposite ends to the under sides of the slides 15 for actuating the latter from the oscillations of the crankdisk. Pivoted to the under side of the crank-disk are another pair of links 27, the 'other ends of which are pivoted to a pair of levers 28 that are fulcrumed at 29 on the under side of the table 9 and at their outer ends are pivotally connected to links 30, these latter,'in turn,being pivo-tally connected to the under sides of the cross-slides 20. From this it will be readilyseen that the oscillations of the crank-disk 25 effect simultaneous inward and outward movements of the longitudinal pushers 17 and also simultaneous inward and outward movements of the cross-pushers 22, the inward movements of the longitudinal pushers occurring simultaneously with the outward movements of the cross-pushers, and vice versa. The leverage applied to the crosspushers is such that they move about twice the distance through which the longitudinal pushers move, and as the movements are synchronous, their speed is, of course,.about twice the speed of the longitudinal pushers.

' At each inward movement of the longitudinal pushers'the entire row of bottle-seats engaged thereby is advanced to the extent of the width of one seat, and at each inward movement of the cross-pushers, an end seat of each row is transferred to the opposite row in a position to be directly engaged by a longitudinal pusher upon the next inward movement of the latter; the entire series of bottle-seats being thus intermittently shifted to the extent of one seat through the rectangular guide-channel.

The rock shaft 24 is actuated to efiect the described shifting of the. bottle-seats by mechanism comprising the following parts.

Referring to Fig. 1, in journals 31 on the opposite end of the base-plate 5 from that which carries the table 9 is a horizontal. rock shaft 32,-having fast on one end thereof a crank-arm 33 connected by a pitman 34 to a crank-disk 35 fast on a shaft 36, this latter shaft being geared to turn in timed relation to the bottle-blowing or molding machine and in a fixed ratio to the rotary movement of the latter. On the opposite end of the rock-shaft 32 is a slotted crank-arm 37 to which is secured a pitman 38 in turn conilected to a cross-head 39 slidably mounted in bearings 40 on thebase-plate 5'. Pivoted to an attachment-lug 41 fast on the cross- .7 head 39 is a pitman 42, the other end of Referring now to the mechanism for de- Y livering the bottles from the molding or blowing machine onto the table 9, 44 desig nates a pedestal mounted on the base-plate 5, in which is journaled a vertical shaft 45, onthe upper end of which latter is a horizontal plate 46 on which are pivoted ninety degrees apart a series of bottle-receiving pans or scoops 47. The pans 47 rest on the upper edge of a cam-ring 48, supported on lugs 48', the highest point of said cam being directly opposite the lower end of a stationary guide-and delivery chute 49 into which the bottles are successively dropped from the blowing or molding'machine, so that each pan in turn, as it comes opposite the lower end ofsaid chute receives a freshly made bottle therefrom. The shaft and, of course, the series of pans 47 are given a step-by-step turning movement in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1 from the rock-shaft32 by means of a slotted crank-arm 50 on said rock-shaft, a pitman 51 connecting said crank-arm to a crankarm 52 loosely mounted on the shaft 45, a pawl 53 pivoted on the arm. 52, and a ratchetring 54 fast on the shaft 45. Back-turning of the shaft 45 is prevented by means of a dogging pawl 55 carried by the shaft 45 engaging a ratchet-ring ,56 formed on the upper end of the pedestal 44.

' As each pan 47 turns through an angle of ninety degrees from the high position in which it receives the bottle, it delivers the latter onto a transfer device by which said bottle is bodily carried to an upright posiembracing the opposite sides of the cradlearm 59 beneath the cradle-body 60 is a footpiece 61, the upper-end 61 of the transverse wall of which,.in the lowered position of .the device shown in Fig. 2, forms a relatively movableend 'wall of the cradle and serves as a stop or seat for the bottom of the bottle when lying in the cradle-body 60. Secured to one side of the journal-block 57 is a stop-pin 62 that, through engagement with the inner edge of one side wall of the foot-piece 61 when the latter is in its lowered position, serves to limit the extent of downward swingof said foot-piece to the position shown in Fig. 2. The hub of the cradle-arm 59 also has a lost-motion connection with the foot-piece for starting the latter on its downward swing-consisting of i? 'p 63 that, during" th rearward swing of the arm 591strikes a shoulder 64 formed on. the-lower end of the foot-piece 61 and tilts the latter rearwardly from the vertical position shown in Fig. 1. On one end of the rock-shaft 58 is an arm 65 th t is connected by a pitman 66 with the at achment-lug 41 carried by the reciprocating cross-head 39.

The operation of the apparatus is, of course, suitably timed to the operation of the bottle-blowing or molding machine, and is as follows: As the bottles are successively delivered from the blowing or molding machine to the chute 49 they slide neck 'foremost onto the uppermost pan 4:7. The instant the bottle is received in said pan, the pan is swung laterally through ninety degrees and simultaneously tilted downwardly, so that, at the end of its lateral swing the bottle slides therefrom onto the cradle 60,

as shown in Fig, 2, at which instant the upper edge of the foot-piece 61 of the cradle is in a position to engage the bottom of the bottle. The bottle having thus been received upon the cradle, the latter is swung upwardly, the friction of the bottle on the upper end of the foot-piece being sufli cient to also swing the latter upwardly until its upper end strikes the edge of the table 9 when,of course, further movement of the foot: piece is arrested. The cradle body, however, swings slightly beyond this point suiiiciently to thrust the bottle directly onto that one of the bottle-seats which at that instant is opposite the cradle; overthrow of the bottle being prevented by a light spring 67 secured to the partition-plate 12. While the bottle is thus being raised by the cradle onto the table 9 the transverse pushers act to shift a bottle-seat at one end of each longitudinal row of said seats across to the other row; and as soon as the bottle is delivered onto the table 9 the longitudinal pu'she-rs act to advance the longitudinal rows while the cradle is swinging back to meet the next pan 17 whereupon the described cycle of operations is repeated. The rearward swing of the foot-piece 61, started by the thrust of pin 63 on shoulder 64, is completed by gravity; the backward movement of the foot-piece being arrested by its engagement with the stop-pin 62 slightly before the conclusion of the backward movement of the cradle-arm and cradle-body, It will be noted by reference to Fig. 2 that the connection of the pitman 66 to the crankarm 65 which engages the cradle-arm 59 is a lost-motion connection, which permits the cradle to fall back to bottle-receiving position shown in Fig. 3 slightly in advance of the movement of its actuating mechanism so as to reach bottle-receiving position sli htly before the pan 47 comes into register t erewith. ferred by the mechanism described to the table .9 until approximately the number shown in Fig. 1 have been received thereon,

The bottles are successively trans- I -whereupon the workman, with his paddle,

picks off these bottles that are on the inner side of the table and conveys them to the annealing oven; the machine, during his trip, bringing a similar number of bottles into position to be thus removed. It will thus be seen that the operation of the machineis continuous during the operation of the blowing or molding machine; that the machine entirely dispenses with the necessity of manual removal of the bottles from the blowing or molding machine; and that the operations are performed with substantial certainty and exactness, greatly reduc ing the extent of waste through breakage and other causes. The seat-disks 13 are, as shown, of slightly greater area than the maximum transverse dimension of the bottles, thus avoiding liability of the bottles sticking together in their heated state dur ing their travel over the bottle-receiving table or platform of the apparatus.

It will be evident to those skilled in the art that the machine as shown and described is capable of variation and modification in minor details without involving any departure from the principle involved or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof. Hence I do not limit .the invention to the exact structure and mechanism shown and described.

I claim 1. In a bottle-handling device, the combination with a table having an endless guideway formed in its upper surface, of bottleseats slidably mounted in said guide-way in edge contact with each other, means for delivering the bottles from av bottle-forming machine to said bottle-seats successively, a pair of pushers at opposite ends of said table, respectively, acting to shift said bottle-seatslengthwise of said table, and another pair of pushers at opposite sides of said table, respectively, acting to shift said bottle-seats crosswise of said table.

2. In a bottle-handling device, the combination with a table having an endless rec tangular guide-way formed in its upper surface, of bottle-seats slidably mounted in said guide-way in edge contact with each other,

means for delivering the bottles from a bottle-forming machine to said bottle-seats successively, a pair of simultaneously acting pushers at opposite sides of the ends of said table, respectively, each acting to shift a group of said bottle-seats lengthwise of said table, and another pair'of simultaneously acting 'pushers at opposite ends of the sides of said table, respectively, each acting to shift a bottle-seat crosswise of said table said pairs of pushers acting alternately upon said bottle-seats.

3. In a bottle-handling device, the combination with a table having an endless rectangular guidesway formed in its upper surface, of bottle-seats slidably mounted in said guide-way in edge contact with each other,

v means for delivering the bottles from a bot- .tle-forming machine to said bottleseats suc-.

cessively at a fixed point on one side of said gulde-way, a pair of pushersslidably mounted in'opposite ends of said table lengthwise means for delivering the bottles from a bottle-forming machine to said bottle-seats successively at a fixed point on one side of said guide-way, a pair of pushers slidably mounted in opposite ends of said table lengthwise of the latter, another pair of pushers slidably mounted in opposite ends of said table crosswise of the latter, a vertical rock-shaft disposed centrally beneath said table, a crank-disk fast on said rock-shaft, link connections between said crank-disk and said first-named pushers for operating the latter,

' and link and lever connections between said crank-disk and said last-named ushers for operating the latter; said operating connections serving to eflect simultaneous inward movements of said first-named pushers alternate-1y with simultaneous inward movements of said last-named pushers.

5. In a bottle-handling device, the combination with a table, ahd means for arranging in a row a plurality of bottles successively received at a fixed point thereon, of means for successively delivering bottles from a bottle-forming machine to said table comprising a pan mounted for both lateral and vertical pivotal movement, and a pivotedcradle receiving the bottles from said pan and advancing them onto said table.

6. In a bottle-handling device, the combination with a table, and means for arranging in a row a plurality of bottles successively received at a. fixed point thereon, of means for successively delivering bottles from a bottle-forming machine to said table comprising a pan having a combined lateral and vertical pivotal. movement, and a vertically swinging cradle receiving the bottles from said pan and advancing them ontosaid table.

7 In. a bottle-handling device, the combination with a table, and means for arrang ing in. a row a plurality of bottles succestions, and a vertically swinging cradle'receiving the bottles successively from said pans when in bottle-discharging position and advancing them onto said table.

8. In a bottle-handling device, the combination with a table, and means for arranging in a row a plurality of bottles successively received at a fixed point thereon, of means for successively delivering bottles from a bottle-forming machine to said table comprising a vertical shaft, apluralityof pans hinged at equally spaced intervals to the upper end of said support to swing vertically, a stationary cam ring surrounding said shaft on which the bottoms of said pans rest in lateral sliding engagement therewith, means for imparting to said shaft a step-bystep rotary movement to thereby bring said pans successively into bottle-receiving and bottle-discharging positions, and a vertically swinging cradle receiving the bottles successively from said pans when in bottle-disch rging position and advancing them onto d table. i 9. 111 a bottle-handling device, the combination with a table, and means for arranging in a row a plurality of bottles successively received at a fixed point thereon, of means for successively delivering bottles from a bottle-forming machine to said table comprising a fixed guide-chute, a laterally and vertically swinging pan receiving the bottles from said guide-chute, and a transfer device for carrying the bottles from said pan to an upright position on said table, said transfer device including-a vertically pivoted cradle-arm,'actuating means for said cradle-arm, a cradle-body'on the upper part of said arm, a foot-piece loosely pivoted coaxially with the pivot of said cradle-arm with its upper end forming a relatively movable end wall of said cradle body, a lostmotion connection between said cradle-arm and foot-piece operative to start the latter on its downward swing, and afixed stop limiting the downward swing of said foot piece. 3

i THOMAS F. LAMB.

Witnesses:

C. S. DAYTON, F. E. FrrzcmBoN. 

